Abigail Smith Adams (November 22, 1744 - October 28, 1818) was the wife of John Adams, the first Vice President, and second President, of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States. Her life is one of the most documented of the first ladies. She is remembered for the many letters she wrote to her husband while he stayed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the Continental Congresses. John frequently sought the advice of Abigail on many matters, and their letters are filled with intellectual discussions on government and politics. The letters serve as eyewitness accounts of the American Revolutionary War home front. She died in 1818 of typhoid fever. She was 73 years old, exactly two weeks shy of her 74th birthday. Painting attributed to Ralph Earl or to Mather Brown.